Valentine’s Bakery

French bakers, Olivier and David, wanted to create a bakery which differed from the traditional and old fashioned boulangerie provided in France.

Their brief was to design a special place where you experience not only the flavour of the bread, but also the architecture.

A key challenge in this space was the small front of house dimensions accompanied by the need to fit an enormous oven and preparation bench into the area alongside patron seating. For the space to work efficiently required careful planning to ensure each square meter was used in the best possible way.

With the limited space in mind, we focussed on keeping a simple design aesthetic and developing one bold statement for the Bakery. This resulted in the sculptural timber batten ceiling which creates a rhythm descending along the wall, culminating in a display area for the food and baked goods. We added warmth to the space through the use of brick and solid timber, recreating a texture similar to the bread they produce.